Re: FM Talk 96.9 - Enough!

[MovieMan <movieman@shore.net>]

Sorry about you getting caught in the middle here but I feel that there are 
some valid points still being made.

At 08:58 AM 9/8/99 -0400, Marc Lemay wrote:
>OK folks...not for nothing...but this thread is getting old and fast.
>
>First off, where was this petition a few months back when the announcement
>was made about FM talk coming to Boston?  Back when it MIGHT have made a
>difference?

Most of the people behind the petition aren't on this news group and aren't 
in the habit of reading the Globe and Herald "Radio" columns.  They 
basically kept quiet about this over the air.

>Secondly, why would a petition to save a low rated jazz station the day
>before the format change make any bosses at Greater Media suddenly say
>"Whoa!  We've got some major jazz fans out there...gee...lets re-neg on a
>contract with Westwood One...send all the talk hosts home and keep this
>format which is reaching a loyal but limited market!"

Admittedly it probably won't save the station but it might make them 
reconsider their move when the light of day is shed on the truth of the 
ratings of their other stations.  WBOS went back down after the Spring book 
(gee, could the Earth Day concert have been responsible for the 
spike?).  After a good start, WROR is diving fast.


>...
>
>As for Movieman - I applaud your efforts...but they're probably fruitless.
>Simply put...Greater Media does not care about us - Greater Media (and other
>radio station owners) care about the bottom line.  They're not in the
>business to care...they're in the business to make money.  We just happen to
>be along for the ride.  I'm sure Greater Media is a great place to
>work...but from a listening point of view - they care about money.  Do I
>blame them?  Not one bit.
The frustration here is that the figures that were used to justify this 
decision were dubious at best.  Last Spring the Magic sales department had 
to was the cars of the WSJZ sales department because WSJZ's department beat 
them in a sales contest for the period.  If they weren't selling, how could 
they have won this contest?  The primary mover of this change had a 
personal agenda.  The question that I have is does the parent company 
(Greater Media) really know what they are getting into or do they allow the 
various divisions (ie. Greater Boston) to do what they want as long as the 
checks keep coming in.

I find this even more disgusting when you factor in the secretive members 
of the Magic airstaff crapping all over their sister station for their own 
profit and career motives.  If they worked for AMFM, Clear Channel, Emmis 
or Infinity they would be polishing their resumes.  Does Corporate in NJ 
know what they've been doing to take away from the Boston group's bottom 
line to make their unit smell like roses?

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